Jason (Jadakiss) Phillips has built his entire career on a foundation of bad timing. After being discovered on the streets of Yonkers, battle rapping those who were several years his senior, legend has it that DMX took him under his wing and introduced him to the Ruff Ryders stable of artists.
Unfortunately, these were the mid-90s. It was a time when the rap industry was still trying to find its way through the whole East Coast-West Coast nonsense and fans were more interested in choosing sides than in beats and rhymes.
By this time, Jada had hooked up with rappers Styles and Sheek and, after kicking around names like “Bomb Squad” and “Warlocks”, finally settled on “The Lox” as their professional title. The Ruff Ryders label was hitching their star to DMX’s debut release, so The Lox cut a deal with Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records juggernaut.
On January 13, 1998, the group dropped their highly-anticipated Money Power & Respect LP. The release came during the heyday of the so-called “shiny suit” era of rap, when dancing and preening briefly replaced the grittiness of rap’s hardcore roots. Fans who followed the group on the underground circuit were disappointed in Puffy’s watered-down version of The Lox and, despite selling over a million units, the threesome left Bad Boy a short time later.
Since then, Jadakiss has spent more time as a solo artist and has turned in some blazing performances on mixtapes and compilations. He released Kiss Tha Game Goodbye in 2001 and now he returns with his sophomore joint, Kiss of Death.
Jada puts his lyrical dexterity on display in the opening cut What You So Mad At? Proudly proclaiming his style as “underground gangsta rap-slash-commercial”, he flows over a Black Key beat that uses a layered drumclap and fits Jada like a glove.
Oddly enough, on the very next track (Shine) Jadakiss takes a backseat on his own album to Snoop Dogg and DJ Quik. Produced by Jelly Roll, Jada pops up on the third verse, but can’t lift this one beyond “decent”…which might have more to do with Quik’s played out nods to a Dave Chappelle skit and the “wardrobe malfunction” catchphrase.
Speaking of Cali Hip Hop, the King of All Hooks appears on the album’s first single, Time’s Up. Nate Dogg is formulaic, but effective here, while Jada brings a made-for-radio approach that’s still solid and better than 90% of the noise churned out on urban FM stations.
Don’t be fooled though…there’s plenty of grime to go around and keep hardcore heads pleased. Sheek stops by on Real Hip Hop, which is laced by an electrical Swizz Beats production of drums, snares and synths that move at a mile a minute. The other Lox alumnus, Styles P, appears on Shoot Outs. You can pretty much take or leave the run-of-the-mill subject matter, but the pounding beat, guitar strikes and scratches make this an absolute banger.
Anthony Hamilton has a guest spot on the album’s best track, Why. Mobb Deep’s Havoc works the boards and brings a restrained drums n’ keys approach. Meanwhile Jadakiss takes the opportunity to pour out his feelings on everything from 9/11 to the Academy Awards to his lack of retail love outside of New York. It’s too bad more rappers don’t know that you can show a little vulnerability and still be “hard”.
If it’s a 2004 rap release, then Kanye West is legally required to appear in some capacity. And, whaddya know…here he is on Gittin’ It In. To the surprise of no one, he lays down a beat that’s pretty fair and a few bars that are pretty awful. On the subject of predictable, Eminem could drop an above average verse in the middle of R.E.M. and his sleepwalking cameo on Welcome to D-Block is still real nice.
While Jada is one of the top mainstream lyricists out there today, he’s hurt by an inherent lack of charisma that keeps him from rising above mediocre subject matter. The squishy up-with-people pap on By Your Side is borderline corny. And, the relevance of Mariah Carey continues to dwindle by the day as she and Jadakiss take the never-works rap love song formula to new lows on U Make Me Wanna.
